The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1887-08-05
SOMETHING ABOUT vIoLlNs.
The Lost Secret of the Cremona VAR
nIsh-Boyvs, Rosin, and Strings.

Journal; For three-quarterS of cent
ury violin makers have been striving to
rediscover the lost art of compounding
and applying what is called "Cremona
varnish."
The lost secret is this: The
CremOna is two varnishes, and those
varnishes always heterogeneous-that
is to say, first the pores of the wood are
filled and the grain shown up by one,
by two, by three, and sometimes,
though rarely, by four coats of fine oil
varush, with some common but clear
gum in solution. Then upon this oil
varnish, when dry, is laid heterogen-
Gus varnish--viz., a solution in spirit
of some sovereign, highcolored, pei
lucid, and above all, render gum,
Gumlac, which for forty years has been
the mainstay of violin makers, must
never be used; not one atom of it. That
vile, finty gum killed varnish at Naples
and Piacenza a hundred and forty
years ago, as it kills varnish now. Old
Cremona summed it, and whoever Gnu
ploys a grain of it commits willful
suicide as a Cremonese varnisher ..
The deep red varnish of Cremona is
pure dragons blood-not the cake, the
stick, the filthy trash which, in this sin
ful and adultering generation, is re-
tailed under the name, but the tear of
dragons blood, little Jumps deeper in
color than a carbuncle, clear as crystal,
and fiery as a ruby. Unadulterated
dragons blood does not exist in COM
merce west of Temple bar; but you can
get it by cropping in the city as hard rs
Diogenes had to grope for an honest
man in a much less knavish town than
London. The yellow varnish is the
unadulterated tear of another gum,
retailed in a cake like dragons blood,
and as great a fraud All cakes and
sticks presented to you in commerce as
gums are audacious swindies. A true
gum is the tear of the tree. For the
yellow tear as for the red, grope the city
naruef Lnan DlOgeneS.
While the varnish of violin is fire.
quently its chief beauty, to apply it as
did the Cremonese would be too slow
a process for this high pressure age.
The substances used should possess
sufficient elasticity to yield to the
slight expansion or contraction of the
fibers in the extremes of temperature,
and from the first prevent decay. Var
nishers of the present day commonly
begin their task by applying a sizing
of gamboge, aloes, and spirits of wine,
which is carefully laid on with camel s
hair brush. Then follow perhaps a
dozen coatings of the varnish proper,
which may consist of mastie, brittle
dammar, and the pigment prepared in
some essential oil. When the desired
shade is reached small percentage Of
pure linseed oil may be added. After
filtering the mixture it is ready for use.
Each coat should be rubbed smooth be-
fore another is added. The best period
for vanishing is from July to Septemb-
er, The materials used in construction
affect the brilliancy of varnish. Swiss
deal and Tyrolese pine show the
beauties of light and shade exeellently,
IS do some selections of American
spruce and maple. Any wood presents
a brighter appearance if vanished
after the last touches of the smooth
ing-iron, omitting both sandpaper and
emery-cloth.
Without bow the leading instru-
ment is reduced to status beneath the
guitar. Soon after the violin became
Of Of css.ss hGsiiishiis utility, ingenuity was
displayed in making appropriate bows.
In the seventeenth century the first
specimens worthy of the name appear
ed. The next hundred years brought
improvements in adjusting the strain
of the hair and so shaping the wood rs
to increase its elasticity. The king of
bowmakers was born in Paris, 1747;
his name Francis Tourte. He was ear
" in life a clocknlaker's apprentice,
and is said never to have known how to
read and write; but he appreciated the
necessity eli better bows than violinists
could procure. Experiments develop
cd the fact that Pernambuco wood best
combined requisite strength. spring,
and lightness for a perfect article. In
his day, as now, the wood was import
ed for dyeing purposes II is difficult
70 obtain IN desirable dondition, hav-
ing many crooks. knots, and cracks